Yes, I will get a direct hit from Irene (North central Long Island, NY). Flashlights and water at the ready...will do the best I can. Stay safe everyone!

Carol

Just north of Boston here. They say the eye will pass west of us, and we'll end up with terrible winds. I'm off to batten down the hatches!

Yesterday I filled all my Tupperware containers with water and stuck them in the freezer, lowered the water level in the pool, got gas for the generator, checked the cash and flashlight supply, and put the patio furniture on the porch.

The Philadelphia area should only get the high winds and heavy rain. At least the rainfall has been lowered from 10 inches to 6. But we're only 70 miles from the ocean and if the storm serves a little we could get more. August already set a new record for rain so the ground is saturated and the streams are high. I'm more concerned with long power outages due to trees coming down.

Maire, is the ice to help cool the fridge if the power goes out?

Joann, I checked the Boston forecast this morning, thinking of one of my cousins, and was surprised it wasn't worse. Bad enough, though.

I'll be thinking of you, Carol!

Last winter we had a 40" snow fall followed by a second 40" snow fall about ten days later...

On June 1st we had a tornado that was immediately followed by a second tornado 20 minutes later on the same track....

Last week there was some local property damage from the earthquake..

And now they are telling us the hurricane will cross long island, cross long island sound and track right up the Connecticutt River valley bring us a weakened storm that will only have 75mph sustained winds and upwards of 10" of rain.......

I guess this just proves the old adage,,,If you don't like the weather in Massachusetts wait about 1/2 hour and it will be different.....LOL

All in all this has proved to be an exciting year so far.

I'm south of Boston on the ocean, we're all set to ride it out.

It's really scary. I'm watching CNN, and they just reported someone said "it's all hype." Well, so what if it is? Better to err on the side of caution, I always say. I hope it slows down as it comes on land.

Please stay safe and be smart, everyone involved. We'll be thinking about you.

Yep - the ice blocks are for the refrigerator or if I have to put any food in coolers.

We're on the fringe too, and I want rain. Despite the fact that most of PA has had abundant rain, we have not. It's dry as a bone here and I'd like a few inches minus the wind. It's very hot and muggy and if the power goes, I might as well say goodbye to the rest of the fish in the ponds. My best wishes and thoughts for the people living to my east.

Lily - where are you in PA? I wonder if all this rain has been east of the Alleghenies?

I'm in south central PA..over the river from Harrisburg.

Thanks - we are direct oceanfront too north of Boston. Taping windows this afternoon but everything else done - porch cleared of furniture/cushions, grill, plants etc. Problem is I was leaving for Germany/Austria Sunday evening & flights all cancelled into and out of Boston...can't go now till Thursday! So off to grocery store to replace what I just finished tossing out to clean out refrig before Sunday! Glad to hear it's downgraded a bit for here. Good luck to all rest of us/you.

I'm in western nassau county, long island not far from the coast. Yesterday the county called for mandatory evacuations of everyone south of Sunrise hwy. The area we are in is a cat. 3 storm surge. Of course the county wants everyone to be cautious, hense the evac notice. Most of my block is not leaving, some are housing family/friends from further south. Our neighbor is an office with the local fire dept. and they know we are staying. We also checked on some elderly neighbors so we know whom we should keep an eye on.

DH printed out a description from NOAA what a Cat 1 hurricane is. "74-95 mph winds, No real damage to building structures. Damage to unanchored mobile homes, trailers, sheds etc. Some coastal flooding. Storm surge 4-5ft." I know he printed this because I was very anxious and worried yesterday. We spoke to my folks who live further inland to let them know our plan and secondary plan.

I've got to go and batten down the last hatch so to speak.

Everyone take care, be smart and careful.

Glad to see it's currently 'just' a Cat. 1 storm. Our power company (Commonwealth Edison in Illinois) has sent over a hundred crews and equipment East. I wonder...could you just keep them and send us yours after this is over? (Not a fan.)

I hope to see post from our 'in the path' pals, saying this wasn't as bad as predicted.

Haffie, where are you? We're in Salem, but 3 blocks from the water. We sometimes get some water in the basement, but no serious flooding.

I own half of a duplex (a Victorian duplex that's about 115 years old, but still a duplex). The owner of the unit next door got up on the roof today and cleaned the gutters and cut down some branches, which I helped him saw up for firewood. So glad he was able to do that.

It felt like a Nor'easter this morning, with everyone outside getting ready.

I'm in orth Western Suffolk County, Long Island, not far from Czech Chick. I've put away my barbecue and lawn furniture, put the garbage cans in the garage, and picked my remaining tomatoes. On the advise of my dialysis unit, I put together a supply of non perishable food, canned tuna , chicken and milk,and single-serve containers of fruits and vegetables. I'm sure I'll be okay. Went to the ATM this morning, they were out of cash. Grocery stores have been cleaned out of milk bread and water. And there are dangerous-looking lines around gas stations. Locally they shut down all mass transit, subways, busses and Long Island Railroad. Like I said, I'll be okay. My SIL who lives on a canal on the southern coast of Long Island, is staying with a friend.

they're talking about shutting down elevators in hi-rise buildings. don't want to take the chance of a power outage and have people stuck, and not being able to rescue them in a timey fashion...

I just heard that Oceanside (south shore long island) Fire Dept is on stand-by as of 4pm. Since the area is under mandatory evacuation, they said that they will tell any business that are still open to close. Many gas stations are closed or out of gas. Rockville Center Village (just north of us) has just notified residents that they are instituting martial law and you are not permitted to be out after 11pm tonight.

We have finished our prep and boarded up some of our older windows and am finishing up some small items here and there. It is sooooo humid and warm out, I am grateful for the A/C running. I'll enjoy it while we still have power.

Everyone stay safe!

Joanne23456 I'm in Rockport. Extremely foggy now, was raining fairly hard but that has stopped as of half hour ago...very warm so if & when we lose power (we have been warned that this will probably happen as will phones & some cell service be spotty at best) at least its more comfortable than the winter nor'easters when house gets sooo cold! Looks as tho its going more inland...hope everyone there is doing alright & gotten themselves taped & boarded up. Just had to get some bread and a muncnhie and am now in for the duration. Flight tomorrow canceled & they're getting us out on Thursday. That's ok. Take care of yourself up there in Salem...

Lily - that's not very far from Philly. I didn't realize that this abundance of rain that we've had didn't extend to your area. So far we've had over 13" of rain in Philly - a record and that doesn't include the 6 to 10 we might get during Irene.

I'm assuming we're sharing in this rainfall now!

i have a girlfriend flying into Kennedy Airport (Queens) from Germany next Tuesday. Hope her plane isn't delayed. I'm supposed to pick her up. I will of course, check her airline. My niece was supposed to drive from Western New york to NYC today (Saturday) for a Dave Matthews concert. I'm glad it's canceled.

Maire, I just read (msnbc.com) that the mayor of Philadelphia is warning about power outages lasting weeks. Friends of mine drove their daughter back to school at Temple today.

I have formerly lived on the Florida, Mississippi & Texas Gulf coats and I have been through 5 hurricanes in my lifetime, oneof which while working as a deck hand on a long ranging 95ft shrimp boat that was about 140 miles from the storm center so based upon my personal experience I am not afraid, but I am not a fool either........My car is gased up and packed with our camping gear so we get jet out of here on a moments notice and head 100 miles north.

Many ppl seem to be under the illusion that this is not a dangerous storm because it is only a category 1 hurricane, but ppl, do not let that category number fool you. This is an extremely dangerous storm because it is tracking very slow. One cannot deny that a cat.5 storm that is pushing susstained winds of 160mph+ is extremely dangerous, but in most instances those storms tend to track rather quickly so you are only confronted with the peak winds for 4 to 6 hours and most ppl have the good sense to evacuate low areas but when we get a cat. or cat.2 storm ppl tend to take it lightly as if its no big deal. In the case of IRENE it is proving to be a very big deal because this storm is tracking very slow and has not yet made a landfall to convince ppl of how dangerous it is. At the pace this storm is tracking it could and probably will cause sustained winds in excess of 75 to 100mph for perhaps 12 hours or more. Also keep in mind that while that is the sustained wind, there are also gust that will exceed 120 to 150mph not to mention that this is an extremely broad storm and tornadoes are extremely common in the feeder bands on the edge of the storm.

Also, from my experience, if you think there is even the remotest possibility that you may have to evacuate, DO IT NOW!!!! Once the mass exodus begins all the interstates and highways rapidly become parking lots. Do not wait till the last minute and end up stuck on the highway in a traffic jam.

Has anyone been told to leave and stayed to take care of their place and are fearful of loot?

I live in Alexandria, VA outside of Wash, DC and have had the worst of it I hope as the news reporters follow us as we are right on the Potomac river. The area is now at low tide until 8 am. We have had a lot of flooding. Lost power twice and the winds are pounding us but we did better than expected.We lost parts of historical buildings here in Olde Towne. We get hurricanes every year but doesn't seem like the weather is getting worse? Wish I could help the people in NY. What a hardship to evacuate a hospital.

We're getting pounded now by rain whipped by the winds and we're three hours from the ocean. It's scary because the power might go and the last time that happened in May when we had a tornado I lost many of my prize koi. I heard the mayor of Phila saying it would be 10 days to two weeks till power is restored. I know how scary it is here and cannot imagine what the people close to the coast are dealing with. Ten people have been killed...some in their house by falling trees. I have enormous trees surrounding my house. I wanted to check the rain gauge but figured it wouldn't be safe. When daylight comes, it will be pure devastation for many. Who would have thought? A tornado(in the spring) an earthquake on Tuesday and now a hurricane in little ol' PA.